Suggested Searches

 

1 min read

Massive Star VY Canis Majoris – Visible Light

Massive Star VY Canis Majoris - Visible Light

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    07h 22m 58.33s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -25° 46' 3.2"
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Canis Major
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    Approximately 5,000 light-years (1.5 kiloparsecs)
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    Roughly 35 arcseconds (0.85 light-years or 0.25 parsecs) across

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    The Hubble image was created from HST data from proposals: 7304: R. Humphreys, K. Davidson, T. Jones, and R. Gehrz (University of Minnesota) and J. Krautter and T. Szeifert (Landessternwarte, Heidelberg) 10262: R. Humphreys and T. Jones (University of Minnesota), G. Herbig (University of Hawaii), and G. Wallerstein (University of Washington).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>WFPC2
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    March 22, 1999 and June 13, 2005
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F410M (Strömgren v), F656N (H-alpha), F547M (Strömgren y), and F1042M
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    VY Canis Majoris
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Variable Star with Circumstellar Nebula
  • Release Date
    January 8, 2007
  • Science Release
    Astronomers Map a Hypergiant Star’s Massive Outbursts
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, and R. Humphreys (University of Minnesota)

Downloads

  • 500 × 500
    jpg (38.74 KB)
  • 250 × 250
    jpg (17.34 KB)
  • 1274 × 1274
    jpg (424.3 KB)
  • 1274 × 1274
    tif (932.28 KB)
  • 800 × 800
    jpg (88.38 KB)
  • 200 × 200
    jpg (9.86 KB)
  • 400 × 400
    jpg (21.88 KB)
Massive Star VY Canis Majoris - Visible Light
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the WFPC2 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope using several different filters. Three filters were used to sample various wavelength ranges in each instrument. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F410M (Strömgren v) Green: F547M (Strömgren y) Red: F656N (H-alpha) + F1042M

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

Related Images & Videos

Hubble Images Outbursts from Massive Star

Hubble Images Outbursts from Massive Star

These NASA Hubble Space Telescope images show the outflow from one of the brightest hypergiant stars in the sky, VY Canis Majoris. The image on the left, taken with Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, reveal its complex circumstellar ejecta, with arcs, filaments, and...

Massive Star VY Canis Majoris - Polarized Light

Massive Star VY Canis Majoris - Polarized Light

Share

Details

Last Updated
Mar 14, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Related Terms

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Hubble Science Highlights

Hubble Images

Hubble News